Haute Route April 16-19 ‘08

So, did they work, and how were they? Show everyone proof that your ride was a success (or even a complete failure)!

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Idris
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Location: Chamonix, France
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Haute Route April 16-19 ‘08

Post by Idris »

Starting out from Bourg St Pierre. We are both on our new skis. Mine are 173’s and MaRuMo’s are 160’s, both 120 - 88 -108.

Just off the road we thought we’d start skinning and not bootpack. Not far round the corner we started a routine of skis on skis off.

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One of the locals takes a discerning look at my planks

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The same fellow close up

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Not wanting to take my skis off if at all possible I took to clambering up the steeper bits. Note clipfix skin tails suck, they will fail a couple of hours after tightening regardless.

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Exit from the same steep bit

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After a 6 hour slog we arrived at the Cabane de Valsorey 1350m (4500ft) above our start point. Perched high at 3030m

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Early next morning we climbed the Plateau de Couloir.
MaRuMo skiing in the early morning light

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And me skiing higher up as it got brighter

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Those following our tracks

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Over the Plateau de Couloir, down onto the Glacier du Sonadon and a short skin up the col du Sonadon

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The weather closed in hard as we descended the Mont Durand Glacier. This glacier has a large icefall and quite a few crevasses which are hard to navigate round in flat light :(.
Escaping from the glacier du Durand over the shoulder of the Grand Charmtane.

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Cabane de Chanrion

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Starting up the Otemma Glacier

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Going on and on and on for 12km

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We arrived at the Cabane de Vignettes just as the weather turned nasty.

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The next morning there was the remains of the storm, but without the wind that had roared all night. On arriving at the top of the col de Eveque the sky cleared.

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Me getting a chance to put in some nice turns :)

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The slope below beckoning

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MaRuMo enjoying the nice snow.

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From here on we had a steep skin up the Col du Mont Brule. Followed by a very white room slog up the Col du Valpelline. With visibility at less than 5m we started out with compass and altimeter and resorted to GPS to find our way. As we crested the col and re entered Switzerland the clouds cleared.

The Matterhorn and an end to climbing at last.

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Descending the Teifmattengletescher above the Zmutt Glacier on the long ride down to Zermatt

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My skis were one of the longest pairs I saw all trip! and by far the widest at 88mm underfoot !!
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alexisg1
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Post by alexisg1 »

Very nice trip ! :)
hugocacola
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Post by hugocacola »

i am a snowboarder but id love to be a skier (part time) to do something like that....
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bigKam
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Post by bigKam »

nice work! amazing photos, too. thanks for sharing.
Nick's Sticks
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Post by Nick's Sticks »

Wow.

I guess asking how they worked is beside the point.
sammer
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Post by sammer »

I'll never be able to sleep in a tent on a ski tour again.Nice trip!
sam
You don't even have a legit signature, nothing to reveal who you are and what you do...

Best of luck to you. (uneva)
Buuk
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Post by Buuk »

Very nice trip with great photos!

Buuk
Make things as simple as possible, but not too simple
Idris
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Location: Chamonix, France
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Post by Idris »

Nick's Sticks wrote:Wow.

I guess asking how they worked is beside the point.
Very, Very well. Better than anyone elses store bought skis we met. Good on crust, crud, refrozen crap etc. Only problem and it's more of an annoyance was being wider (yes 120mm tip is considered very wide in AT terms) than other skis we always had to make the skintrack wider.
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